Every year around this jolly holiday season the Christmas brigade comes out of the woodworks to remind us all  that the month of December is reserved for Christ.  We are begged by these people to keep Christ in Christmas and never to forget the meaning of the yuletide season.  Most importantly we are urged not to bend to liberal atheists who want to destroy Christmas by removing all traces of it from the public sphere. 

Meanwhile, in the real world, those of us who do not celebrate Christmas are reminded just how blind many religionists can be.  Most people who celebrate the birth of Christ either choose to ignore or are just plain ignorant of the facts about their favorite holiday.  Rather than the winter being a time to celebrate the birth of their human-god-ghost, it is in fact a purely pagan celebration.  Anyone ever seen a pine tree grow in the desert?  The misunderstanding of the origins of Christmas is just another piece of evidence to show how religion can distort and reshape reality in the minds of believers.

This time of year Christians celebrate the birth of their human-god-ghost; a striking Anglo-looking man with long, wispy hair.  The fact is that Jesus Christ, if he even existed, was not a white guy.  Jesus Christ was a Jew.  Christians today would have trouble picking Jesus out of a lineup with Arabs on either side of him.  His hair would have been curly and dense, and his complexion would have been much darker than medieval interpretations suggest.

What we know today as Christmas is not actually Christian in origin.  It is a pagan celebration of winter, absorbed and distorted by the church in order to make the “transition” from pagan to Christian more palatable for “converts”.   Simply put, people are more willing to believe whatever you want when what you are asking them to believe resembles the beliefs they already hold.  There is a reason many saints can be traced back to pagan deities.  Likewise, many island cultures have adopted Christianity over time only to retain their spirits and gods in the form of saints. 

A perfect example of this Christian absorption of more “primitive” religions is the coveted symbolic Christmas tree.  As I mentioned earlier any Christian would be hard pressed to pinpoint the exact location of a pine forest on a map of the Middle East.  If Christmas is about celebrating the birth of Christ why then is the most cherished symbol a borrowed pagan tradition?  No self respecting Christian would dare deny that Christ was from the Middle East, so how do they reconcile the elevating of the pine tree to such prominent status in their celebration of Jesus, an Arab-looking Jew from the desert? 

Faith of course. 

The winter season should be about family, friends, and humanity, if it needs to be about anything at all.  Even if they are all different in scope and practice nearly all the popular religions celebrate something this time of year.  But Christians have claimed all the days below 45° as their property.  How ironic that the time of year so devoted to materialism and greed be claimed by the most greedy, malevolent force in human history. 

I am not against the celebration of Christmas.  What I am against is the delusional notion that as soon as the temperature plummets we must all recognize Christmas as the focal point of the season.  This time of year is only Christmastime to Christians.  The only reason I point out the hypocrisy of their Christmas beliefs is as some form of counter attack against the war on non-Christmas celebrators.  The more brainwashed religionists say there is a war on Christmas.  They believe that liberal, atheist forces are trying to remove Christmas from its rightful place in the public sphere as the national holiday.  And perhaps it is to some extent, the extent that the complete and utter materialism pervading Christmas is right in line with American values. 

So during the holidays if you’re Christian go ahead and wish people a Merry Christmas.  Only a fool would be offended by this.  No reasonable person should expect someone who celebrates a particular holiday to sterilize their greetings to others for the sake of averting offense.  To the believer of any religion the holiday season takes on the colors of their beliefs, as it should.  But I wonder how some Christians would react if a Jewish person were to wish them a Happy Chanukah.  I wonder how many would be sure to correct the mistaken assumption right away.  It is interesting that Christians are the only group who seem wish their holiday onto others as standard practice.  You never see a Jew wish someone they aren’t certain is a Jew happy Chanukah, or someone wish another person they’ve just met a happy Kwanza, or Ramadan.  It makes you wonder…

Coca-Cola, the Hess truck, the movie A Christmas Story, and getting off school/work have made it seem like Christmas is an American holiday.  And while Christianity is still the most prevelant religion in America, it is not the national religion.  Christmas is not the national holiday.  Christians can't have it both ways.  Either Christmas is about celebrating the birth of Christ or it is a materialistic invention of the Coca-Cola Corporation.  If it truly is about Jesus then it has no place in the public sphere. 

The winter is a holiday season for everyone—unless you don’t celebrate any holidays.  So next time someone wishes you a happy holidays, if you’re a Christian, don’t get offended.  It’s a bit hypocritical!

If, as reported the bill that finds its way to the senate floor includes an opt-out public option, what will that mean for states that actually choose to opt-out? What happens when, hypothetically speaking, once the bill passes there are states that decide not to offer the plan to their residents? While gauging true public support for any public option is unreliable at best—anything cable news outlets say has to be taken with a grain of organic sea salt—imagine what might transpire when residents of a state that has opted out voice anger at not being offered the choice.

There are opponents of any public option in ever state, in ever demographic, and in every corner of the country, but what happens when those who would like to have the option never get it because their state government wants to play politics? I think an opt-out option is a good idea for one reason only; it will show exactly how the majority of Americans feel about having, or not having the option to enlist in a government run program. Just imagine if the program works like a charm. Think of how all the states that chose not to offer the plan to their residents will look. If the plan fails that’s one thing, but imagine the social unrest that will come about when people in Texas are not able to obtain the exact same health care that people in New Jersey are getting, but could if their state decided to offer it?

Will opting out be a purely political move? Will Republican-run states choose not to offer the option just to spite    the Democrats? What will happen if their political decision blows up in their face? It will at least be interesting to see which states do in fact opt-out. Could we see residents of one state moving to other states in some sort of mass exodus? Even in states with overwhelming support for one party or the other there will be a segment of the population that cries out at the injustice of not being offered the same plan as other Americans enjoy.